Building a engine hatch

[showtime83]

Not really sure where to start, any and all ideas please. I need almost a 2 inch raised hatch. Idea is to go all glass or some other material, no sun pad on it, light weight too. I have done a few glass repair jobs. I have never started anything from scratch though. Can the experts please chime in.

[DAREDEVIL]

Buy some milleman in home depot or so and build a mold, wax it up and build your hatch with glass and plasticore.

if u have the old hatch that fits perfect use it for the size of the mold,,,so it will fit 100% when done.

[Offshore Ginger]

Just curious what kind of boat is it for ? There are a few ways you can do this and that is....... use your old hatch and make a splash adding a few inches do it or make yourself a whole new mold to run a part or just add a few inches to the existing hatch depending on how much work you really want to do. I know if i was going to make a new hatch i would use Epoxy & Foam core along with vaccum bagging it because if you have ever lifted a Skater hatch for a 40 you would freak how light it really is even the ones that are built using Balsa Core and to give you an idea how lite we are talking about it takes two hands to lift it off the boat and could be carried with one .:sifone:

[Chris]

Sometimes you can just raise the center section of the hatch. Mark out the area you want raised, cut it out carefully, then block it upward. You could use either something like Coosa or even one of the pre-laid up core products- balsa in the middle, laminate on the faces. With some careful bevels and miters, then finish in glass, you'd have yourself a factory-looking blower hatch.

If you just need 2", is it only at the intake area? If so, why not a short scoop? If it's exhaust risers, that's another problem.

[Offshore Ginger]

Chris made an interesting point and that being is do you need to raise the hatch because of a blower motor and like he mentioned why not a scoop which would be a walk in the park to put on .

[showtime83]

I do not have a hatch at all, no old one to go off of. The boat is a 30 sutphen, the marks on the deck where the old one was, appear that the hatch laid over the opening 6 inches or so on each side. The flame arrestors are almost flush with the deck right now. There is no lip for one to lay inside either.

[Chris]

I'd start with foam and build a plug. Then a quickie mold. Then lay up a hatch with foam coring.

No easy way out on this one.

[Ratickle]

I always think the easiest way is to buy a 4 x 8 sheet of endgrain balsa-core laminate and make the sides yourself for raising it from the leftover after cutting to the shape you want.

http://www.jamestowndistributors.com/userportal/show_product.do?pid=1592&BASE

I've seen several made from aluminum also if you know a decent fabricator. One Hotrod2 did replaced the entire 40 Baja engine cover and saved a bunch of weight..

[Offshore Ginger]

I do not have a hatch at all, no old one to go off of. The boat is a 30 sutphen, the marks on the deck where the old one was, appear that the hatch laid over the opening 6 inches or so on each side. The flame arrestors are almost flush with the deck right now. There is no lip for one to lay inside either. is there any chance of getting some pic's of that area because i find it somewhat hard to understand that the hatch laid six inches or so on each side over the motor compartment and is your Sutphen an Ocean pacer ?

[showtime83]

Yes it is a ocean pacer, I have one old pic from when i started tearing it down for the re rig that shows the witness marks of the old hatch. From the pic it looks more like 3 inches on each side. It has been awhile since I have seen the boat. I looked at some pics of other ocean pacers that had the sun pad and it looks like there hatches overhang also.

[gcarter]

Nice loking boat!
Congratulations on a worthy project.
I'm wondering if some sort of angle or "Z" shaped retainers, or landing pads were installed on the underside of the engine compartment opening, whether that would give you the potential of building a much simpler hatch?
In other words, the hatch sides could then be vertical, fit inside of the existing opening, less area, lighter weight, and make it easier to maintain the deck finish.
All except for the aft end where the existing hinges are. Of course, the hinge locations could be changed also.

[Ratickle]

Not a lot of pics out there. Here's a couple from one for sale.

[jeffswav]

The deck has a curve to it, thats a little harder than if it were flat. If you could find the same boat in your area you could see how the factory did it and try to replicate.

[Offshore Ginger]

This thing is a very quick and easy fix and could you possibly show some pics of the inside perimeter /drainage lip / which would be side to side front to back , and just because there is a compound curve to the deck you can forget the idea that it will it be that much more difficult to make your hatch because you will be starting from scratch and i will shoot you a P M .

[jeffswav]

Give Artie OG a call he gave me good advice on my transom project. Somtimes its easier to talk to somone about it rather than post back and forth. Pictures really help with getting good advice.

[Offshore Ginger]

I always think the easiest way is to buy a 4 x 8 sheet of endgrain balsa-core laminate and make the sides yourself for raising it from the leftover after cutting to the shape you want.

http://www.jamestowndistributors.com/userportal/show_product.do?pid=1592&BASE

I've seen several made from aluminum also if you know a decent fabricator. One Hotrod2 did replaced the entire 40 Baja engine cover and saved a bunch of weight.. Sorry paul . i would go with foam because it is more forgiving .

[showtime83]

I found this pic of one forsale, instead of the single scoop in the middle, I would just raise it a inch or two where it touches on the deck and I think it would look good. I am open to all suggestions.

[Chris]

There's an easy way to make a curved hatch plug.

You'll need some 3/4' oak and some melamine faced masonite. It's in the paneling section at the hardware store

If you make a pair of battens to match the curvature of the deck in front of and behind the opening, you can then lay the masonite across them and attach it. If you place another pair of straight oak strips across the ends of your curved battens, as you fasten the masonite, your surface face will have a nice curve left to right and remain straight and flat lengthwise. This is because masonite is hard and rigid- it won't stretch. It will only curve in one axis. You may need a center batten or two. If you make the oak strips the height you want the finished product to be you're almost there. Cap the oak with the masonite and you only have a bit of finishing to do on the edges where you round it off. You can do glass layup right on the melamine. With alot of wax of course. Now you can lay up the mold. Use lots of glass mat and some wood reinforcements and you'll end up with a nice piece ready to pull a hatch from.

[Offshore Ginger]

I found this pic of one forsale, instead of the single scoop in the middle, I would just raise it a inch or two where it touches on the deck and I think it would look good. I am open to all suggestions. Cool .